You don't need motivation, you need a PLAN!

What’s motivation got to do with it? That’s my question for today.

I hear this a lot. It might sound weird coming from a guy who is super positive and attempting to be motivating all the damn time! I don’t understand what motivation has to do with it. I’m motivated by my goals and the way that it makes me feel when I achieve even just a smaaaaaall fraction of a victory. I think the way that you might set your goals is part of the motivation that you need. When you have a strong plan, you might not need “motivation” at all. But let’s look more closely at that.

The way I see it, goals are your guiding light, your north star, something that you love! They're something you aim at consistently, up there in the clouds. They’re probably based on something internally motivated, or “selfish” to your heart or mind. Things that you care about a lot are often related to the most powerful goals that you can find.

Today’s example goal is: being fit. You want a fit, strong body? This is one of my goals. This is the genesis for my own physical goals. But you can apply this process to anything!

The reason why having a strong body is a goal of mine is because I never felt strong when I was young. When I was a kid, I struggled with feeling insignificant and weak. I don’t know if I came to this realization through therapy or self awareness. However it happened, I figured it out! So, strong is the way I always wanted to feel. There’s ways to measure that goal, but we’ll get into metrics and progress later.

My goal is based on the way I want to feel. If you have your guiding light e.g. feeling strong or having a strong body, that's the strategy will lead to your plan. Then the tactics are your ROAD MAP.

Once you have your goal, then you find your tactics.

For this example, I determined the specific steps I needed to take in order to be STRONG. They include:

make great food choices

eat frequently

hydration

supplements

train 5 days a week

get coaching

progress checks

These are all just tactics. If I’m trying to get to a strong body goal and I get stuck at a tactic (e.g. my knee hurts and I can’t squat today), that’s only ONE of 15 tactics that I have to reach my goal. Obviously, I’m going to need to train. I’m not stuck on one or two tactics. I’ve got a long-term vision and I don’t need to be successful at every single one of these, every single day to know I’m moving forward. If you have a great goal and a strong plan, YOU HAVE A LOT. You don’t need to "be motivated".

FOLLOW THE PLAN!

Now you have your plan mapped out. What happens if you wake up and don’t feel like doing it? JUST FOLLOW THE PLAN.

If you wake up and you DO feel like it? FOLLOW THE PLAN.

Wake up and something happened to your dog? FOLLOW THE PLAN.

Wake up and your house is being foreclosed on?

You guessed it. FOLLOW THE PLAN!

You follow the plan no matter what’s happening in your life. It takes the stress of choosing off you. Now you don’t have to decide what to do, because you’ve already decided you already have a goal, an internal compass guiding you, and you have your tactics to get you there. For example: let’s say you’re growing your business. You’re going to make your dials. You've got to get out and build relationships, make calls, present, study your materials.

Everybody has tactics to lead them to their goals. Once you have all this really really clear, getting motivated is just a matter of looking to where you want to be. Reminding yourself that’s why you are doing it, that’s all the “motivation" you need!

Build momentum

Even if you’re not motivated, you can still do one thing. I can still drink water. I can still take my fish oil. I can YouTube informational videos. Once you do one thing, it’s easier to do the next and the next and the next. NOW you have the momentum. THERE YOU GO!

What does motivation do with it?!

I don’t know! But I don’t care. As long as you have a strong goal.

That’s my take on motivation and how to "get it". If you have any questions, give me a shout on Facebook or in the comments. Coach Josh at Training for Warriors Portland, helping you bring out the warrior within!